He That Believeth and Is Baptized Shall Be Saved — Melvin Kauffman

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold.

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God's Love, Mercy, and the Authority of Scripture

Thank you, Lord, that we have this wonderful privilege of standing in your presence this evening knowing that our sins are paid in full by the blood of the Lamb. Thank you, Jesus. Oh, can words ever describe the greatness of that work, the greatness of that love as the songwriter gives it.

If the whole earth were parchment and the ocean were ink, it could not describe the love of our God. If we can't grasp that this evening, I pray, Lord, that you would continue just to show us and reveal to us your great love and your mercy.

I thank you, dear God, for this evening and I pray, God, that you would move by your Holy Spirit and reveal your word to us. Lord, uphold your truth. And I pray, God, that you would not let anything come forth from this pulpit that would not be that truth.

If there is any thought that would come forth or any consideration of expression that is not according to that which is from you, Lord, I pray you would just take it away. You have that ability. So, we give ourselves to you this evening and say, Lord, just lead us this evening.

Speak to us through your word. Anoint your word. So we commit the evening to you. In Jesus' worthy name. Amen. You may be seated. I have a text I would like to read this evening, but I think I might do that a little bit later on.

Belief, Baptism, and Salvation

The title of my message I have titled, On a Scripture, in Mark chapter 16, verse 16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. But he that believeth not shall be damned. Now, as we look at the word of God right there, all we need to do is recognize that he is putting together believeth and is baptized in a so-called nutshell.

He puts it together. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. But he that believeth not shall be damned. So, what we'd like to look at this evening is the way that this believing and baptism come together in one.

You know, we talk about he's a born-again believer. We hear that. We hear that term. And as I was meditating on this message, I was so blessed in just looking at the word of God. And as I was meditating on this, I realized that I don't think we can separate those two.

I don't believe that we can separate born-again and a believer. I do not believe that we can be a believer and not be born-again. And I don't believe that we can be born-again and not be a believer.

Those things just come together. And as I meditated on the word of God, I realized these things are together. Why do we say a born-again believer? Does that indicate that there is something like a not-born-again believer?

Now, we know that the Bible says the devils also believe and tremble. But that's not the type of believing that saves. That's not the kind of believing that the Bible talks about here. That's a mental ascent.

That's that which the mind comprehends and grasps. And it's not the believing that we want to speak about tonight. I'm afraid we have way too much of that believing today. That mental ascent. Brother Denny talked about that.

About just having that thing in the mind. And you know, I was there for years. I was raised as a child. A little boy that had no question in my mind that there is a Jesus Christ. There is a God in heaven.

And that there is a God in heaven. That there is righteousness and unrighteousness. And that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe those things. But I was a little bit like Joseph's brothers. When they came to Egypt.

And when they met that leader, ruler in Egypt. And they went back home to their father. If somebody would have asked them if they know that leader in Egypt. They would have all said, yes we do. Did they know him?

They had no clue who he was. And that's where I was. I knew him here. But I didn't know him here. I didn't realize that Jesus Christ is my brother. And I think there are many people today that look at Jesus that way.

The Promises Given to the Believer

But I like to just look at some of these. I like to define what believer means. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. So what is this believing? We want to look at eight different scriptures here.

Number one, he shall be saved. The text we read. That's one thing about this believer. He shall be saved. The second one is, he shall not perish, but have everlasting life. That's what this believer is.

Number three, and that's in John 3 .16. Number three is, he is not condemned. This believer that we hear about that shall be saved is not condemned. John 3 .18. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already.

Because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Number four, he has everlasting life. I tell you, I got excited when I went through these. This believer has everlasting life. John 3 .36.

He that believeth on the Son has everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God abideth on him. Do you have the wrath of God abiding on you tonight? Or are you a believer?

Number five, this believer is one that has passed from death unto life. Oh, the difference that made in my life. I knew I had passed from death unto life. I had been ingrained, and I had been taught, and almost brainwashed.

I mean, just indoctrinated so deeply that a man cannot know that he's born again. But after God, after the Lord gave me, or after, how can I say, after I came through that birth canal, if you will, no one could tell me any different.

I just knew better. Number six, this believer shall never thirst. Jesus said in John 6 .35, Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Number seven, out of this believer, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7 .38. And another one, though he were dead, yet shall he live. These are all promises to he that believes.

Sounds like someone that's born again to me. How about you? I do not think we can separate the two. So now what I'd like to look at here is that he that is born again, it says, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.

That's where the promise is. When we look at born again, I'd like to just turn your Bibles with me to John chapter 3. And I'd like to read, maybe you can all stand for the reading of the word. I appreciated that from Brother Raymond.

You know, I believe at times we don't have enough of reverence. You meet around with some of the Muslims for a little bit and they think it's a horrible thing that we would sit down to pray. I'm not saying that they have it all right, but I do believe we lack in reverence to a holy God.

Jesus's Teaching on the New Birth

Let's read the word here. John 3, verse 1 through verse 21. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Marvel not that I say unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness.

If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. You may be seated. In this account here we find Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Now, it's very interesting to me as we look at this, that it was one just like this that Jesus was speaking to.

You know, in our churches, in Christianity ever since that time, there was one thing that went very clear through the two churches, and that was, he must be born again. The interesting thing of it is, I heard that as a child growing up, he must be born again.

But the more interesting thing, and I say this in a negative sense, is I didn't know how. I hope by the time I'm through this message this evening, you will know how to be born again. And I'm not sure that I will cover it, but I think it's very simple.

This Nicodemus, he was a Pharisee. He was a very strict religionist. I believe that this man was one that followed through with keeping the law. I believe it was a man that if we would put his life beside many Christians' lives today, we would say, my, the man is faultless.

I believe he was a man that celebrated the Passover. He paid tithes. He said prayers. He brought sacrifices. He tried to keep the law. And in the eyes of man, especially in those days, he was probably very righteous.

One that people would look up to. One that people would honour, because he's a ruler of the Jews. He's up there. He is a religious man. I do not see Nicodemus as one of these, as we read from some of the priests in Menno Simons' day, when Menno Simons was at, or was it Michael Sadler was a monk there, and was observing the lives of these people.

He was just horrified at what he saw going on amongst these religious people. I don't think Nicodemus was one of those. I think Nicodemus was a sincere man. And he lived out, I think maybe he was a little bit like the rich young ruler, who really did all that he knew and was living according to that which he knew.

And he really wanted to know, what is this that you are teaching? Who are you? And he came to him by night. You see, he also had that pressure of his peers. He had the pressure of those other religious men.

And he really wanted to know. There was a hunger in him and he wanted to find out, who is this man? What is he all about? So he came to him. But the interesting thing that we see here is that it was to him of all people that Jesus said, ye must be born again.

And I challenge anyone sitting in this tent or under the sound of my voice, whether it's now or a year from now or whenever, with the recordings and all that we have today, if you put your life beside that man and make a study of how those people lived, especially rulers of the Jews, you will find yourself speechless in comparing your righteousness with him.

And if God said to him, if Jesus said to him, ye must be born again, what is he saying to you? Ye must be born again. You may think you're just pretty good. And you know, we hear that again and again.

We witness on the streets and we say, well, you know, I'm not too bad. But you know, the Word of God tells us that comparing themselves amongst themselves, they are not wise. And that's what happens. We dare not compare ourselves amongst ourselves when we look to the glorious Lord Jesus.

The one, the perfect one, the one that was here as an example, sinless, and was tempted in all points like as we yet without sin. Him we must gaze upon and say, where do we stand? And we will be just like John out there in the Annunapapnus when Jesus came down there and met him.

He says he fell on his face as dead. You know, you may try to keep the golden rule. You may pay your bills. You may be a good neighbor. You may keep yourself out of prison or out of jail. You may never commit adultery.

You may have been pretty clean in those things. Maybe you never drank. Maybe you never smoked. Maybe you never cheated anyone. But that will not save you. Let's get this clear. Being a good little boy will not save you.

Oh, I tell you, you know, here I am a rebel and living a very ungodly life in my youth to where it's a shame to even speak of those things. And by God's grace, I'm raising a family for the Lord and it seems like those little boys, I think especially of some of them, walked a life of almost faultless.

And you had to almost wonder, how are they going to come to the Lord, you know? But everyone down the road, just everyone, get that burden of sin and guilt, I'm a sinner. Praise God! But, all those things, and I could go on and list things on and on.

That will not save you. Ye must be born again. I think it was John Wesley where someone asked him one time, why do you preach so often, ye must be born again? He said, because you must be born again. That's all it took.

He just answered it very simply. Because you must be born again. That's why. We might think, well, why didn't Jesus say this to Pilate? Or to Judas? Why didn't He say it to those people that nailed Him to the cross?

Why didn't He say this to those, what we would look to as ungodly men? But He said it to Nicodemus. I believe it's so that we understand our need to be born again. You know, this word, ye must be born again, it's not just for the gangsters.

It's not just for the cheats, the adulterers, the whoremongers, the liars, the drunkards, the drug addicts, the gamblers. No. Nicodemus was a very religious man. And he may have felt pretty good about himself.

He may have just felt pretty good about himself. And, you know, he's been living this thing out pretty good here now. And, you know, he had to do with all these outward religious ceremonies and activities.

But you see, what Jesus was getting at is this. Man's problem is not on the outside, but it's on the inside. And that's you and my problem. You see, we are entering here with Jesus coming into the world here and His teaching.

We're entering into a new dispensation. And we see that very clearly depicted when Jesus, when the scribes and the Pharisees and some of those come out there to be baptized of John there at Jordan. And He says, well, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

He says, bring forth, therefore, fruits, meat to repentance. And He says, the axe is laid at the root of the tree. And all that speaks volumes to my heart. What does that mean? You know, the concept of being religious in the old was in doing.

Jesus came to fulfill the heart of God from a religion of doing right things to a religion of being righteous. Hallelujah! Not doing, but being. So, many of us were brought up in that mentality of doing.

But the question is, are we still doing or are we being? As we look at the word there, accept him and be born again. That is the word again there. It was very interesting to me to look at this. That word again is the Greek word anosin.

And what it means is this. It means from above. Or by analogy, from the first. By implication, anew. From above, again. So, I'd like to just look at this same Greek word in different scriptures. In Mark 15, verse 38, it says about the veil and the temple.

And it says, and the veil of the temple is rent in twain from the anothen to the bottom. That word, ye must be born again. Wow! It doesn't mean the again like you and I say again. It means you must be born from above.

Or born from the top. Or born from anew. That's what that word means. And Jesus said, ye must accept the man, be born again. Now, and as he used that word again, apparently that word again in that time meant the same as it does to an extent today.

I mean, it covers different areas, different fields here. Back to the, you know, again, the original, the initial. Another place that same word is used in the Greek is in James 3 .17. But the wisdom that is from above.

Righteousness from the Heart

But the wisdom that is from anothen is first pure. Now, as we look at this word, and we look at what God is, what Jesus is trying to tell Nicodemus here, and trying to tell us through this, we want to turn to the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 and verse 16.

It tells us here that one came to him, one came to Jesus and said this, Good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? Do you see the concept? Do you see the mentality there? What good thing shall I do?

And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. And he saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honour thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbours thyself.

The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up, what lack I yet? I believe this young man was not lying. I don't think that he was out there just coming up with a story. I believe he was speaking the truth.

I believe this was a very, very religious young man that really did the best that he knew, tried his best and just, he was just being honest. Well, I've kept those things. I've been living, I was raised in a very religious home and therefore I was a good little boy.

Jesus said, One thing thou lackest. You see, what Jesus is saying here to this young man is this. He says all these things that he's done, but Jesus with his words is saying, Put your heart! The axe needs to go to the root of the tree, not just an outward.

And when we look at a tree, we get the picture of a tree that, and I like to compare a tree of maybe apples and pears, and maybe we could say persimmons and sweet apples, you know. I don't know, we can use different things there, but I tell you, if you plant a persimmon tree, you're going to get persimmons.

But if you were to plant an apple tree, you'll get apples. And what I see here is that in the old dispensation, after the fall, man was seeking to live righteous. And they were doing all these outward things.

And I get the picture in my mind of a tree here that keeps producing these persimmons. And they go out and pluck those off, and they go out there and put apples on this tree, because it's supposed to produce good fruit.

But you know, they're constantly at work, you know, they came to do their sacrifices every year. Every year remembrance was made, because they'd see these old persimmons out there again, and they'd have to just take them off and put apples on, so that it looks right and looks good.

And I'm afraid many people are living in this concept today. But Jesus said, the ax is laid at the root. That means, with Jesus coming, the Son of God coming, He's coming to do something with the very root of the tree, where a new life, a new tree can spring forth, and this tree is going to produce apples.

And you don't have to worry about going out there and plucking these persimmons off of this tree, because a good tree bears good fruit. That's just the way it is. That's the new dispensation. You know, in the old dispensation, you can hate your neighbor, just don't kill him, you know, don't murder him.

You can hate him, but just don't do any outward act. Jesus said, love him. You know, if your neighbor, he did something and you lost your eye in the deal, well, then you could go up there and pluck out his eye.

Jesus said, turn the other cheek. Just turn the other cheek. In the old dispensation, you know, you could have all kinds of lustful thoughts against this other woman or your brother's wife, but just don't commit adultery, you know, just don't take her.

But Jesus said, he that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart. Now, do you see the difference? It goes from an outward right down to the root, the heart of man.

That's what it's all about. He must be born again. We do not need more outward decoration. We need inward regeneration. That's what it takes. That's what was needed. What is this new birth? What is it?

It tells us here in verse 8 that it's a mystery. And I'd like to just touch on something here. And maybe this is not really that... I don't know, I just... Some years ago, this was such a blessing to me in meditating on this scripture, that this man came to Jesus and he wanted to know what is the answer to life.

Apparently, he had questions. Apparently, he had some unfulfilled things in his life, just like you and I. Even living in a religious setting, there's a vacancy in our heart. There's something in here that's missing.

And he comes to Jesus and he wants to know what is the answer to life. And Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, just think with me.

You know, we hear this term, so we think right away of a new birth. A spiritual birth. This man had never heard of such a thing. So he looks at Jesus and he says, Well, how can a man be born when he is old?

His whole mindset went back to a natural birth. How can that happen when he's old? Can he enter again a second time into his mother's womb and be born? I mean, how is this possible? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Something that has stood out to me in this. And I know, we go back to the reformers, we go back to the commentators, and there's a lot of varied thoughts and all this of what this water is. But I'm a simple believer.

I believe he's talking about the natural birth. We know how God has preserved these precious little infants in the womb of the mother and keeps them there and protected by that water. And they are born of water.

I just think that, this dawned on me when I was present with the birth of one of our first children. And I was standing there, I had pondered this question for years. You know, I'd read the Anabaptist Fathers and I'd read different things.

Some said this, some said that. And I'm not stuck on this, but to me, it's just so clear he was talking about two things. He's talking the natural, the spiritual. The natural, the spiritual. The natural, the spiritual.

And here's Nicodemus still thinking natural. And he says, how can this happen the second time? And he says, no, there's a natural and there's a spiritual. Except a man be born natural and of the Spirit, of my own words, he cannot enter the kingdom.

And I want you and I to grasp that reality. Unless you are born of the Spirit of God, you cannot see the kingdom. You can't see it. And you won't be there. As a matter of fact, that's what happens when people walk into tents like this.

And they sit in here and there's emptiness all evening. And sometimes I'm afraid there are some young people sitting in our midst that have kind of closed off conviction. They've kind of shut the door and they sit here all evening with the precious Word of God expounded and they go from here.

I'm going to say the same as they came, but you know, it's worse. Because they've just hardened another little part of their heart. Beloved, I plead with you, it's dangerous to do that. The Spirit of God will not always strive with man.

And I could go into that wonderful scriptures concerning that thing, the Spirit of God not always striving with man. But I'm just simple enough to believe that he's talking about a natural birth here.

And you must be born again, because all through here, he just refers to two things. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. You must be born again. Again in verse 12, again he has that.

If I have told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things? And what I think Jesus is doing here is getting Nicodemus to shift his focus off of earthly, natural, religious, to the root of the tree.

To something that goes much deeper than outward ceremony. Well, what is this mystery? What is this new birth? I'm sorry. What is this new birth? It is a mystery. It changes things. Yet, you cannot see it.

Years ago, after my wife and I were married, I'm not sure just how, yeah, we were probably married, I think it was in 85 or something like that, 84, 85. There was a tornado out of western Pennsylvania.

We went out there to help clean up for a few weeks. Listen, I tell you that was awesome to behold what that twister did that came through here. Yet, nobody saw it. They just saw what it did. You can't see the wind, but you can see what it does.

And that's the way Jesus said it is with the Spirit. You can't see it, but you can see the effects. It's a mystery. We cannot deny the reality of wind. You can't deny the reality of wind. Yet, you can't explain it, you can't see it.

We cannot see the Holy Spirit. We cannot really explain Him. But we see His mighty power make the liar honest, the harlot pure, the rebellious surrender, the blasphemer pray, and the vow made pure. Hallelujah.

It is the work of God that takes a poor, needy, sinful, bound, hell-deserving sinner and makes him into a free, joyful, victorious child of God and begins a new life. That's the power of God. That is the work of the Spirit of God and the work of God.

This is the new birth. A second birth. It is a birth of the Holy Spirit of God. You cannot join the family of God. You must be born into it. You must be born into it. A birth is the coming into being of a new life which has the nature of its parents.

When we are born the first time, we are made partakers of the old nature, the sinful nature we all received from Adam. When we are born again, we become partakers of the divine nature. Hallelujah. The new birth cannot be earned.

Salvation by Grace and the Conviction of Sin

Ephesians 2, verse 8 says, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of worthless that any man should boast. Titus 3, verse 5 says, Not of works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.

God begins with conviction. Every one of us has been born with a God-given vacuum or empty feeling within. I talked about that a little earlier. Man has been trying to fill this vacuum ever since the beginning of time.

I know what I tried to do. I tried to fill that thing with everything. I think Brother Kenny tried all kinds of sports and things to fill that, and it all ended up empty in the end. Maybe I have you mixed up with Brother Raymond.

I know Raymond was into all that. You know, all these earthly things, trying to find fulfillment. Brother Levi talked about hunting. That excitement, that adrenaline boost, to see that big buck fall. What is that?

When you get a hold of the joy of the Lord, that stuff just vanishes away. Man has been trying to fill this vacuum ever since the beginning of time. But because man is carnal and soul under sin, as Paul puts it in Romans 7, man tries anything other than Jesus to fill this vacuum because of the sinfulness of their own nature.

Drinking, drugs, smoking, movies, parties, dating, going on trips, amusement parks, recreation, vacations. Some people get sad when they just sit down by a brook and hear the water trickling. I know what that's like.

That empty feeling. Do you experience that? Some people get tears. Some people start crying. They get very sad when they sit by a brook and they hear the water rustling. It's just this. They might even sit there crying because of a lonely feeling comes over them in their heart.

I used to have that. And you know, sometimes as born again believers, we have to look back to remember some of those things. I forget. I forget. I haven't had that for 25 years, 26 years this year. But that lonely, empty feeling, I had that for years, just on and on.

That longing that just wasn't filled. Can anyone identify with me? Do you know what I'm talking about? Back then, if not now? I certainly had it. If this is your experience this evening, God is calling you.

He wants to fill that place. Why must we be born again? Except if man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Because man has a sinful nature. He is corrupt and totally depraved of all righteousness.